A top of this kind is known from practice and comprises a top linkage by means of which a top cover can be spread or rigid roof shells of a so-called retractable hard top (RHT) can be displaced. For this purpose, the top linkage can be displaced between a closed position, in which a vehicle interior is covered, and a storage position, in which the top is stored in a storage space of the vehicle and the vehicle interior is uncovered. The top comprises a rigid roof element, a so-called roof tip, which is disposed in front in the closed position and which is fixed to a front cowl of the vehicle in the closed position, said cowl being an upper frame part of a frame of a windshield of the vehicle, said frame part extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle. In a folding top having a foldable top cover, the roof tip is a front bow. In an RHT, the roof tip is formed by a rigid roof shell that also forms a portion of the outer skin of the roof. For fixing the roof tip to the front cowl, the top comprises at least one locking arrangement having a locking hook or the like which is pivotably mounted on the roof tip and, in the closed position, engages behind a locking bolt rigidly connected to the front cowl, thus securing the top against unintentional displacement. In order to be able to arrange the top and the roof tip on the front cowl in an exact position in the transverse direction of the vehicle and in the vertical direction of the vehicle, a centering arrangement is provided which comprises a centering pin which is disposed on the roof tip and which engages into a centering recess of a centering seat formed on the front cowl when the top is being displaced into the closed position. In order to stabilize the roof tip on the front cowl, the roof tip is kept under tension on the front cowl. Thus, the front end of the centering pin bears down on the ground of the centering recess, which, in turn, can cause the front cowl and the roof tip to be deformed.
The object of the invention is to provide a top of the kind mentioned above in which the risk of deformation of the roof tip and/or of the front cowl due to the forces exerted by the centering arrangement is minimized.
According to the invention, this object is attained by the top having of a top linkage which can be displaced between a closed position, in which an interior of the vehicle is covered, and a storage position, in which the interior is uncovered and the top is situated in a stored position, and a roof tip which is fixed to a front cowl of the vehicle in the closed position, and a centering arrangement which defines the position of the roof tip in relation to the cowl in the transverse direction of the vehicle and in the vertical direction of the vehicle in the closed position and which comprises a centering pin which engages into a centering recess of a centering seat when in a centering position, wherein an insert can be disposed in the centering recess, the insert having a contact side with which a front end of the centering pin is in contact when in the centering position and which is formed by an elastic element, or wherein the centering pin can have an elastic element at its front end, the elastic element being in contact with a ground of the centering recess when the centering pin is in the centering position.